Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel Reviews
It's hard to follow-up on what Gearbox Software has created over the last two iterations and what The Pre-Sequel brings is nothing short of a letdown. While 2K Australia were able to replicate certain parts of what made the Borderlands series fun, the frequent bugs, dull script, short campaign and repetitive world design will leave fans disappointed.
Borderlands is a game of deadly math, but the numbers don't quite add up in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel.
If you've played Borderlands and the sequel, devoured all the available DLC, and still want more, that's exactly what the Pre-Sequel delivers. If you're looking for anything measurably different than your prior experiences with the series, though, The Pre-Sequel won't satisfy. And this lack of ambition only serves to disappoint: there's a fantastic game buried in here, somewhere, if only its caretakers would perform a serious overhaul.
Though low gravity makes combat more interesting, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel's missions and story feel like straight-up filler. This Pre-Sequel is strictly for devoted Vault Hunters.
'Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel' offers more story for hardcore fans but plays like a dated clone of the older games, trading polish for gimmicks.
Despite that glowing praise, I am torn, because I also recognize that it is far from perfect. The environmental art direction gets dull too quickly, the level design is lacking in basic conveniences, and a general sloppiness is present when looking closely. Some of the cool new features like multi-leveled areas and combining weapons could have been enhanced further if the user interface and systems had been updated to play to those strengths. Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is a solid entry to the series, but I hope that the development team takes some of the failings to heart and delivers excellence in the future.
Before you start, you have to make a tacit agreement with Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel: This is one of those times where you'll gaze into the abyss, and the abyss will gaze into you.
It's another wacky, wonderful adventure in the world of Borderlands, and though this title may take us to somewhere new and unseen, there are still a few sights that may be a bit familiar to fans — though don't let that stop you from taking a trip to the moon.
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel makes up for some major issues with pacing and level design by simply being a ridiculously fun cooperative romp. A few more months of development could have turned a good game into a great one, but there's still some great bouncy butt-slammin' action to get stuck into here.
'Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel' offers just enough content to move out of expansion territory and into full release, but barely. For those who can't get enough Borderlands and relish the opportunity to experience some new characters and abilities, this will tide you over for a few dozen hours. For everyone else, it's not exactly a must-play title.
In many ways, the pre-sequel feels like a pleasant place-holder.
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is basically Borderlands 2 in space--a fun little stopgap game for fans to play while Gearbox works on Borderlands 3.
Tons of loot. Tons of action. It's mostly the same Borderlands you've played before, which based on your point of view, can be a good thing or a bad thing
A trip to the moon offers some decent new ideas, but also is clearly a stop-gap release.
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is a great addition to the series but it does feels more like a very big DLC game because it doesn’t bring in anything substantially new. Where it does pay off however is the humour in the writing and the story arc for the main antagonist – it is amazingly fleshed out to where you see this interesting character transition throughout the course of the game. But in the end there’s loads of content packed in and you’ll have a lot of fun smashing your way through the missions while we all wait for the next act in the Borderlands series to make an appearance.
The essential gameplay can be reduced to a series of shoot-'em-up fetch quests through hazardous landscapes, but even veterans will have to adapt their FPS techniques to make it through.
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is a worthwhile entry in the series that will provide more of what fans expect while fleshing out some of the narrative gaps between the first two titles. And while the addition of low gravity and a few new guns might not change things forever, their presence is far from a hindrance and fits into the Borderlands formula fine, although unremarkably.
The more we played The Pre-Sequel, the more dubious we became as to whether it warranted a standalone release. Oxygen consumption and verticality were the only fresh elements in the level designs. The new weapons classes—cryo and laser weapons—felt like additions to our arsenal that we could take or leave. The writing was full of references to the previous two games.
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel leaves us wanting, due to its overt familiarity. It's a decent game overall, but fails in its attempt at being something great.
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel further refines the existing Borderlands formula, but it is far from a notable evolution of the experience. Shooting and looting is as fun as ever and characters feel varied, a definite step forward. However, uninspired mission design and a lacking narrative are all too constant and familiar issues.